Screened in Carport Plus a New Carport...CHECK!

I kind of thought that after we finished our laundry room makeover that we would be done with our home improvements for the year.  With football season getting under way we've run out of free weekends to devote to major projects.  However, my always eager to do something husband had other ideas.  One of the things on the back burner of our house-to-do list was do something with our back porch/carport.  We've know since we moved in that we wanted to do something with it, we just weren't sure what.   Earlier this  summer we decided that something would be to turn our carport into an outdoor entertaining area where we could grill out, hang out, and watch football games.  I was on board with one stipulation...we put up something to put cars under.  I am not a fan on parking my car out in the elements, and as a 28 years old homeowner I feel like I have earned a covered parking spot.

We finally got our heads around exactly what we wanted to do a couple of weeks ago and as of yesterday it's done!  Our outdoor oasis!  We still have the aesthetics to work out and Eric has additional plans for an outdoor kitchen are that will be a gradual process, but the major work is complete!

So what did we do?  We screened in our existing carport and had a new carport built on to it.  We also had the small patio area in the back covered so that we can grill when it's raining, and installed 4 new ceiling fan/light combos in the screened in portion. To say that we're pleased with the results is an understatement.  I have spent at least 30 minutes out there every afternoon (most days more).  The dogs love it, too.  Our backyard is not fenced in so we've never been able to leave them outside by themselves.  When we put the doors on we intentionally had them open in to the room so that we could put the dogs out there and not worry about them getting out.  I think Hawk thinks it's his own personal outside room (kinda like the pool is all his, too) because he stays out there all afternoon when I get home from work.  I try to call him inside and he just looks at me like I'm crazy to think he would want to leave his happy place. The other two were unsure of staying out by themselves at first but they've caught on quickly.

We hired professionals to install the new carport, but we did the screened in portion of it ourselves, with the help of some friends.  We have a friend who is an EXTREMELY talented carpenter who was there for the entire process.  If it weren't for him it would not have turned out as amazing as it did. We spent about a day and a half framing, screening, trimming, and putting up lattice.  We were not initially planning on putting lattice up, but decided that if we wanted to be able to leave the dogs outside by themselves we'd have to.

Here are some progression pictures.  I still can't believe it came together as quickly as it did!

 This is the left side of the back of the house.

 This one is the right side of the back of the house.

Here are some inside looking out progression pictures.  

You better believe I didn't let the guys have all the fun.  I was out there with them the whole time and I even got to use the nail gun!  It's the little things, I tell ya!  My major jobs were door handle installation and cleaning the ceiling.  We've been in our house for 3 and a half years and it was empty for 2 years before that, so I know that it has not been cleaned in at least 5 years, but then again who sets out to clean their carport ceiling?   Since the carport is now an "inside" space I decided it needed to be done and I spent the better part of 4 hours on a chair with Clorox and a rag wiping it down.  It was tedious, but every single person who came by that day commented on how nice it looked which gave me motivation to keep going.  It was nice to have something besides raw, red finger tips to show for it, too!

1. The ceiling before...you can't see from the picture but there was a layer of dirt on the entire ceiling
2. The ceiling after...all clean!
3. One of my sturdy door handles installed.
4. My poor baby fingertips...my pinkys got the worst of it!

I guess we can cross this project off our list now!  I will have updates as we carpet, furnish, etc., but I feel like the brunt of the work is now done and we can enjoy it!  Don't worry we have!

Lunch for 2 on the back patio?  Don't mind if we do!

The only thing left now is a name.  Because a space like this deserves a really good name, so the suggestion box is open!